Administrative Unit The Administrative Unit, led by Dr. Buchwald, will provide administrative and organizational services. The function and aims of the unit are to 1) support the logistical operations of each project;2) stimulate, coordinate, and monitor activities across projects;3) supervise implementation of key strategic decisions related to the program plan;and 4) facilitate program planning and review. Thus the Administrative Unit staff will engage in a broad range of logistical operations (e.g., scheduling, communication, personnel matters, expenditures, and monitoring) and be responsible for coordination across all projects, key strategic decisions, and program planning and review. The Administrator, Suey Byrnes, deals primarily with the administration of the budget and staff, including activating and maintaining professional and institutional subcontracts. She is also responsible for the routine management of operations and staff (e.g., preparing fiscal reports, planning and allocating space, implementing personnel policies and actions, and processing staff appointments). Ms. Byrnes communicates regularly with the Division of General Medicine offices at Harborview Medical Center and UW. For this project, she will provide a budget report and yearly progress reports for all activities to the Project Leaders and the Director and Associate Director of the Center. Ms. Stacie Eng, Fiscal Specialist and Administrative Assistant, also provides support for word processing,, bibliographic searches, correspondence, copy editing, telephone communication, facsimile transmissions, purchasing supplies, and processing travel arrangements. These and other duties, which are integral but may appear only indirectly related to the conduct of the 4 projects, will be performed by the Administrative Unit. Other activities specifically relevant to the projects include setting up petty cash accounts and ensuring the transfer and maintenance of adequate funds to reimburse participants for their time and effort. The Administrative Unit will also be responsible for the purchase of study-specific equipment such as the thermal sensory equipment. The Computer and Communications Department at the UW, as well as 2 Center technology specialists, maintain our computing and communication capabilities. At present, we have 12 desktop and 17 laptop computers. E-mail and Internet access are available through modem/Ethernet connections for in-house staff and faculty. A Local Access Network allows many project staff to share files and access a core of instruments and other resources. The technology specialists maintain the Web site of the Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research (www.uwccer.org), which has both secure and public domains. Videoconferencing facilities are also available. A computerized bibliography using EndNote bibliographic software provides ready access to literature in areas relevant to the substantive and methodological aspects of the Center. We regularly enter citations and full abstracts for articles used in our research efforts from information provided by "ALERT Services," a bibliographic search service provided free to UW faculty. The Center for Clinical and Epidemiological Research actively communicates with administrative staff, Co- Investigators, program officers, and the community.